A Rare Day Off
by Cira Stones
Summary: After a solo mission as Garnet, Sapphire cares for a sick Ruby and takes the chance to do a bit of cuddling while they're unfused. Steven takes the chances to snap cute photos of the two.


My first ever Steven Universe fic. I just recently got into the show and although Garnet is my favorite character so far, I can't help but absolutely adore these two! So this is just a short fic of fluff between the two. Enjoy!

* * *

Sapphire opened one of the kitchen cabinet's doors, pulling out an empty bowl and grabbing a white faded wash cloth from atop the counter. She filled the bowl with cool water and submerged the wash cloth into the water. A pained moan from across the room caught her attention. Carrying the bowl carefully so as to not spill it, the blue gem climbed the stairs. Ruby, her best friend and lover, sat on the end of the bed with her arms and legs crossed in pure annoyance with the situation as she stared at Steven's TV. She coughed a little and rubbed her forehead, groaning again.

"I feel like my head's cracked." She said, sounding very sick indeed.

Sapphire thought back to how Ruby had ended up like this. They had just returned from a mission of clearing out an infestation of winged insect-like gem creatures from the battleground where the war against Homeworld had taken place so long ago. The aggressive flying insect gems had apparently come to the old battle field attracted by the scent of the strawberries growing there. The Crystal Gems would have left the creatures be if not for the fact that they severely damaged the area and the weapons that were still there. Garnet had been fighting, making great progress in getting rid of them, when a large one in particular slashed her across the arm with it's stinger. As it turned out they were poisonous. That was the problem with solo missions; if something went wrong, there was no immediate backup to help. Though the wound was not fatal, Garnet could no longer fight with the poison quickly spreading through her body and weakening it.

As soon as she had returned, Ruby forced them to unfuse right there on the warp pad, taking all the poison into her own body before it spread to Sapphire's. It would take time for the poison to run it's course, so until then Ruby would just to endure the side effects and Sapphire intended to stay with her the entire time. The rest of the gems and Steven had gone to take care of the remaining insect gems for them.

Sapphire sat on the side of the bed, ringing out the wash cloth a bit so it wouldn't drip water everywhere onto Steven's clean bedsheets. Gems didn't suffer from illness the same way humans do, but they could still experience similar symptoms in certain situations. Hopefully the wet cloth would help Ruby like it did for humans. "Why don't you lie down?" She suggested. "It might help with the pain."

Ruby didn't reply. Instead she stared at the bowl sitting in Sapphire's lap. "What's that for?"

"This?" Said Sapphire, holding up the cloth and folding it length wise once. "It's to help bring your fever down. It works like this." Sapphire removed the bowl from her lap and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. She leaned towards Ruby, wrapped an arm across the front of her shoulders and pulled her backwards until the red gem's head was lying in her lap. She then proceeded to lay the damp cloth across Ruby's forehead. Ruby's face became a deeper shade of red and Sapphire could see the cloth quickly drying out from the sudden increase in temperature. She gave Ruby a questioning look, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"What?" Said Ruby, coughing a bit and blushing even more. "That's your fault!" Sapphire reached over and got the cloth damp once more and placed it back on Ruby's forehead.

Sapphire laughed a little, running a hand through Ruby's hair in a comforting manner. She still felt so hot, it was a wonder Ruby hadn't retreated back into her gem. Though Sapphire felt pretty sure that the reason she hadn't was so lessen the worry Sapphire felt. Retreating into your gem was only for the most dire wounds, and by not doing so was like saying that the poison wasn't that big of a deal. Ruby reached up with her own hand to grab Sapphire's other and held it tightly. Ruby closed her eyes, relaxing for the first time since they had gotten back. They stayed like that in a comfortable silence, "You didn't have to go through this all by yourself, you know." Said Sapphire after a few minutes.

"I didn't want you to have to deal with this." Replied Ruby, not bothering to open her eyes.

"What if that amount of poison had been fatal?" Sapphire countered. "It would have been safer to spilt it between us."

Ruby just shrugged. "Rubies are sturdy against these type of injuries. Besides, it wasn't so there's no problem."

Sapphire frowned. She knew Ruby would have that kind of thinking. She didn't need her second sight to know that, but it made her worry all the more. Ruby would rather endure all the pain herself than risk letting her suffer. Sapphire decided not to press the issue any further at that moment, but made a mental note to herself bring up again later after their current situation had passed. She sighed. "Well, how about for now you try to sleep?"

Ruby opened her eyes. "You mean that resting state Steven goes into every night?"

Sapphire nodded. "According to Amethyst, it can be quite rejuvenating. I think it might help your gem fight the poison if your body is at rest."

Ruby thought about it for a moment. "Couldn't hurt, I guess."

"Should I sing for you?" Asked Sapphire, giving Ruby a soft smile. Ruby smiled back and gave the hand she still held another light squeeze.

"Definitely."

Sapphire felt herself smiling even more. She began singing. She picked one of Ruby's favorites songs, the one she usually song to calm her down whenever her feelings got the best of her. Ruby listened silently for awhile. Eventually her eyes closed as she relaxed even more. By the time the song finished, Ruby had drifted off to sleep. Sapphire stayed there, singing and running a hand through Ruby's hair.

* * *

Several hours later, the warp pad activated. "We're back!" Yelled Steven as soon as the light from the warp pad disappeared. He jumped off, followed by Pearl and Amethyst.

"Thanks goodness too." Said Pearl, flexing her arm above her head to try and release the tension her muscles held. "Even though Sapphire and Ruby there were still a lot left, I honestly didn't expect an entire swarm of those things. I'm just glad we got rid of them all."

Amethyst yawned. She walked over to the couch and flopped down onto it. "Speaking of those two, where are they?" She asked. Hearing a giggle from Steven, Pearl and Amethyst looked over at him. He stood at the top of the stairs, hands held against his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter.

"Guys!" He said while waving his hands, his voice barely a whisper. "You gotta see this."

Slowly the other two gems crept over and climbed the stairs. Pearl had to stop herself from saying 'aww' while Amethyst laughed just as much as Steven, though with less attempts to quiet herself.

Ruby and Sapphire were still in the same position as before, though both were fast asleep. Ruby looked very comfy, murmuring softly to herself in her sleep, one hand still tightly holding Sapphire's. Sapphire was slumped forward a bit, breathing softly.

"Oh!" Said Pearl, smiling. "They're always so cute together."

"Yeah." Agreed Amethyst. "It's no wonder Garnet is always fused. Umm, what are you doing, Steven?"

Steven held up a finger to hush her from the bottom of the stairs. After a moment of frantic searching through shelves and cupboards, he pulled a small black device off one of the shelves and quietly ran back to the stairs. He showed the other two the device; a slightly aged black camera. Grinning and giggling, he held it up and after a moment, a flash blinded the room.

Quiet voices invaded Ruby's sleep, dissolving her dream into light consciousness. She groaned and tried to turn away so she could return to a deeper sleep, but all that did was make the voices speak a little more excitedly and hushed. "Noisy." She muttered, sitting up from her comfortable position. Ruby placed a hand on a half asleep Sapphire's shoulder, holding her up as she swayed slightly. More giggles brought Ruby's attention to head of the stairs. "Ah!" She said, startled by their sudden reappearance. Steven and Amethyst stood on the second step to the top, giggling and laughing with wide grins on their faces. Pearl stood behind them, an arm around each of them in a apparent attempt to pull them away with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"See?" Said Pearl to the purple and half human gems, still pulling on them. "I told you two that we were going to wake them up! I'm so sorry, Ruby. We didn't mean to wake you."

"Yeah, we didn't mean to interrupt." Added Amethyst, a sly grin on her face. "Especially since you looked _so_ comfy using Sapphire as your pillow."

"Amethyst!"

Ruby just rolled her eyes. Something like an audience had never stopped her from a little cuddling before. "When did you guys get back?" She decided to ask instead. Sapphire seemed to have completely awakened now. She folded her hands in her lap, smiling politely at them. Though Ruby noticed that there was the slightest blush on her face. It made Ruby chuckle a bit.

"Like twenty minutes ago." Answered Amethyst, growing bored of her newest game already and walking back down the stairs to raid the fridge. Steven slipped out of Pearl's hold too and bounced down the stairs and out the door. Sapphire foresees him coming back with several photos a few hours time and the very thought makes her both smile and blush. Had she not been distracted at the time, Sapphire probably would have known he was going to do that long before she accidently fell asleep.

Pearl faked coughed before clasping her hands together and speaking to the small red gem. "So—um—how are you feeling now, Ruby?"

"Pretty good actually." She replied, stretching her arms a bit. Smiling, she turned back to Sapphire, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the bed. Sapphire laughed from the spontaneous action as she felt Ruby lifting her up and twirling her around. "Good enough to do this, anyway!" They continued to spin. Pearl shielded her eyes with one of her hands as a blinding light filled the room. She dropped her hand as the light faded as quickly as it came. Where the two gems once stood was now Garnet.

"Hey." Greeted Garnet, readjusting her shades before walking past Pearl and down the stairs.

Pearl followed after. "I guess you really are feeling better." She said.

Amethyst popped up from behind the counter, a weird mix of apple slices, pasta salad, and chocolate syrup on a plate in her hands. "Yo, you're back!"

Garnet sat down on the couch, legs crossed and one arm draped across the back. "And good as new." She said smiling.

* * *

Four hours later, the front door burst open. Steven rushed in, a camera draggling from his shoulder on a strap and a small stack of photos in his hands.

"Garnet!" He said, running over to the tallest gem as the warp pad light vanished and she stepped off. She had just returned from checking out the battle field to make sure none of those insects were still there. "Look what I got!" He handed the small stack to the tallest gem. Garnet looked at each of the five photos, all of Ruby and Sapphire sound asleep on his bed. "They came out great, didn't they?"

Garnet looked between Steven and the photos. She gave him a small smile. She pocketed one of the photos and gave the young half gem the rest back.

"Yes, they did."


End file.
